A man is dead and four Cumberland County Sheriff’s deputies are on leave after the sheriff’s office said a man pointed a gun at deputies, and they shot that man Sunday night. 

Authorities have not released the names of any of those involved.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said the Pearce’s Mill Fire Department, a department south of Fayetteville, responded to a brush fire on Airline Drive around 10 p.m. Sunday. 

Neighbor Issac Murphy told WRAL News that he saw that man lying on the ground with a handgun on his chest and notified firefighters.

“They said, ‘tell your family to go inside,’ and they asked me to remain streetside while the police came,” Murphy said. “Seconds later, police came. Maybe a minute, a minute and a half later, some shots rang out.”

Deputies said firefighters called them for assistance. They found the man with a gun on Catherine Drive, which intersects with Airline Drive. 

The sheriff’s office said deputies told the man to drop the gun. The man pointed the gun at the deputies. A deputy then used “deadly force,” according to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. 

Deputies gave medical aid until EMS arrived, according to law enforcement. The man died at the scene. 

Deputies, Murphy said, “came here, they did their job, and that’s all I expected.”

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said the State Bureau of Investigation is investigating, standard procedure when a law enforcement officer fires a weapon in the line of duty. The deputies involved are on leave during that investigation. 

Anyone with information is asked to call the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office of Internal Affairs at 910-677-5420 or the State Bureau of Investigation at 919-662-4500.